Girl Next Door

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Risa was walking through an empty hallway on her way to class, much to her relief. She has had a lot of fans greet her today and she was rather exhausted. She walked hurriedly towards her classroom, but her way was suddenly blocked by three tall boys.

"Um, excuse me," said Risa softly, "I have to get to class."

"Say, aren't you that Risa Takanaka? The girl who scored a home run in that baseball game last week?" said the leader of the boys, who had silver hair and bangs that framed his face.

"Um, yes," replied Risa, getting nervous as the boys started to surround her.

"Heheh," chuckled another of the boys, who had dirty blond hair and a smirk to his lip. "Hey, Toshiro, isn't she Matsumaru's girlfriend?"

"Yeah, won't he get pissed at us?" said the third boy, who had spiky red hair.

"Yeah, so what?" replied the leader, whose name was Toshiro.

"He might kick our asses," said the blond boy with a snort.

"Yeah, right, Shinichiro," put in the red-haired boy with a smirk.

"What do you know about Kyosuke?" Risa asked the boys, getting a little scared. She was convinced that these boys were delinquents.

"Oh, nothing," replied Toshiro, smirking and getting closer to Risa. "Just that he's a big-shot baseball player and he thinks he's so cool. As for you though..." He then reached for Risa's cheek but she slapped his hand away.

"Don't talk about Kyosuke like you know him," she said angrily.

"Oh, we know about Matsumaru," said Toshiro, an evil grin upon his face. "He's in our class. He thinks he's so awesome, doesn't he? Especially with his pretty girlfriend around."

The blond boy and the red-haired boy, whose names were Shinichiro and Kazuhiko, respectively, laughed in agreement.

"Well," continued Toshiro. "Now we have that bastard right where we want him." He rubbed his hands menacingly.

"Yeah, that Matsumaru's such a schmuck," put in Kazuhiko.

Risa's heart raced as the boys surrounded her with the intent of harming her. She was afraid for her own safety, but she could not stand having her friend insulted in front of her.

"S-Shut up!" she yelled at them in anger. "You're barely even friends with Kyosuke, so don't act like you know him!"

Toshiro was surprised at her new show of emotion.

"Wow, she's a feisty one, isn't she?" said Toshiro with a scoff.

Meanwhile, Kyosuke was walking down a hallway adjacent to the one where Risa and the delinquents were in. But when he heard the scuffle from a distance, he hid behind a wall and listened to what they were saying.

"What has Kyosuke ever done to you?!" Risa asked the boys angrily. Kyosuke recognized her voice at once. "Are you doing this because of jealousy?!"

"Risa...!" he thought. "Who is she squabbling with?"

"You have no right to talk about Kyosuke like that!" yelled Risa, who was on the verge of tears. "He may be an imperfect guy, but he's my best friend and a good person! He never hurt anyone. And even if he's such a 'schmuck' as you say he is, he's twice the man you guys will ever be!" She then proceeded to angrily brush the tears off her cheek. Toshiro, Shinichiro and Kazuhiko were surprised at Risa's words.

Kyosuke heard clearly what Risa said and her sobs as well. It touched his heart. And from the tone of her voice, it sounded like she was being bullied. Kyosuke clenched his fists, enraged at whoever dared hurt his friend's feelings.